Apple’s Upcoming ‘TV’ App Has (Almost) All The Pieces In Place To Be An SVOD Game-Changer

A killer app for streaming TV viewers would put all the shows you want to watch from all the different networks and streaming services you subscribe to in one tidy, intuitive interface. Apple is launching an app in December for Apple TV, iPad, and iPhone that looks to be the closest thing to it that we’ve seen to date.

The app, which is simply called “TV,” won’t be it it — it won’t likely include Netflix or Amazon Video — but a demonstration of the TV app last week and background discussions with people inside and outside of Apple who are familiar with the app make clear that it could be an enormous leap forward for TV.

Here’s a closer look at Apple senior designer Jen Folse’s demonstration of the TV app at an Apple event last week with some additional context from an Apple spokesperson who spoke with Decider following the event:

Apple TV

Folse started with a demo of the TV app for Apple TV, which launches to a screen with four categories across the top: Watch Now, Library, Store, and Search. Across the bottom, you see a horizontal row of icons called Up Next with TV shows and movies that you’re currently watching across multiple Apple TV streaming apps.

“So for example, I bought Sing Street on iTunes but didn’t finish watching,” Folse says. “And as you can see, Up Next lets me continue from where I left off.” As you scroll through the icons in your Up Next queue, you’ll see the logo for the app where the show resides and the next unwatched episode. “For shows that I’m binging on like Homeland on Showtime, the next episode is right here ready for me to start. And for currently airing show that I’m watching like The Big Bang Theory from CBS, Up Next shows me the newest episode once it’s available.”

The Big Bang Theory is currently airing new episodes and Homeland is not, so Folse is likely using those two shows to demonstrate how the TV app will work with both current and catalog seasons of shows. Folse doesn’t say whether The Big Bang Theory episode is from iTunes, the CBS All Access app or a bundled TV provider, but all three options would potentially be available to viewers. An Apple spokesperson could not confirm that any of the streaming apps used during the demo would be available at launch, but I’d say it’s a fair guess that those apps are all on board.

“If you’re one that hasn’t seen Game of Thrones yet, now’s a great time to start,” Folse says. “And with Watch Now, I just click play. I’m taken straight to HBO NOW, and the show starts.” When she clicks on Game of Thrones, the app goes directly into the episode in HBO NOW without any visible app switching like what you’d see on an iPad or iPhone.

“And I can get back to TV just by pressing the TV button, “Folse says. “As you can see, Game of Thrones was automatically added to the front of Up Next, so it’s easy for me to pick up later.” An Apple spokesperson confirmed that the TV app communicates directly with your streaming apps and will stay up to date on episodes you’ve watched if you watch those episodes without using the TV app.

After demonstrating Watch Now, Folse goes back to the main screen — where the options are Watch Now, Library, Store and Search — and clicks on the Library option. This is an interface for TV episodes and movies that you’ve purchased on iTunes. Nothing fancy. If you buy a lot of iTunes content, this will be a good place to see it.

Next up is the Store option, which is where things start to get interesting for viewers with multiple streaming services to manage.

Streaming Apps

“When I’m in the mood for something completely new, I head over to the Store where I can explore great new content to add to Watch Now,” Folse says. “There’s new movies available from iTunes and all of these apps that I can just sign up to access.” She’s referring there to the Start Watching Now row of apps, which includes premium streaming services like HBO NOW, Hulu, Starz, Showtime, and CBS (presumably CBS All Access).

Two apps that will very likely not work with the TV app at launch, however, are Netflix and Amazon Video. Wired confirmed that Netflix, which has apps for Apple TV, iPhone and iPad, is not planning to participate in the TV app. Apple and Amazon have been at odds for years and Amazon Video has never been available for Apple TV, so expect the Amazon Video app to continue to be available on iPad and iPhone but not on Apple TV and not participating on the TV app.

“When I find one [app] that I like, I can just click to install,” Folse says. “In just a few seconds, the app installs on my Apple TV, and it will automatically download to all of my other devices.”

“Within Starz, I can sign up. Or if I’m already authenticated using Apple’s new Single Sign-On feature, I’ll instantly get access to all the great content that they have right here in the [Starz] app,” Folse says. “And when I go back to TV, I can see that Watch Now has automatically been updated as well to include the best of Starz like Power and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

The TV app’s search and recommendations for TV shows and movies will pull data for the TV shows and movies that are available to watch on your various apps for that month. If you add or drop services and as those services add and drop content, the TV app will stay updated. Aggregating all of that data from your various premium apps into the TV app should make it much easier for viewers to decide what to watch.

Single Sign-On

Apple didn’t go into much detail about the Single Sing-On feature during the demo, but the official announcement of the TV app says that “subscribers to DirecTV, Dish Network, and more will just sign in once on Apple TV, iPhone, and iPad to enjoy immediate access to apps that are part of their pay-TV subscription.” An Apple spokesperson said that more bundled TV providers would likely become available over time.

The Single Sign-On is a device feature — like the sign-ons for Twitter and Facebook are now on iPad and iPhone — so you’ll be able to provide your login info once in the device settings and launch all of the apps for the cable networks that are part of your bundle without having to separately log into each of them. So if your bundle includes A&E, FXNOW, History and even premium networks like Starz, you’ll be able to launch those apps without without logging into them individually. Apple TV is the first of the major connected-TV devices to add that feature, and it’s — if it works as advertised — will remove significantly streamline the process of setting up an Apple TV and adding new apps.

Favorites

A typical bundled TV service would provide you with access to 50-plus Apple TV apps for the various cable networks, but you’re probably only interested in using a handful of them. Apple’s demo did not indicate a way to identify your favorite apps, but the Apple spokesperson said that the final build of the app that launches in December may include some mechanism for doing that. The shows you’re currently watching across all of those apps, though, will be listed on the Watch Now screen.

Siri

Folse uses a handful of voice commands during the demo that are already up and running on Apple TV, and the device handles each of them flawlessly:

“Watch the Louisville game” launches the Louisville-N.C. State college football game that’s in progress on the WatchESPN app. “Siri knows which game and takes me straight to the action,” Folse says.

“What other football games are on now?” pulls up a list of other games that are available to watch.

TV for iOS

Folse also runs through the TV app for iPad, which replaces the Videos app and has the same features as the TV app for Apple TV. Same for iPhone. And if you use the TV app on multiple devices, the apps will keep each other current on what you’re watching.

Variables

Apple did not announce the names of the participating cable networks and SVOD services, and the only bundled TV providers announced were DirecTV and Dish Network. That leaves a fairly wide range for which viewers will find the TV app useful when it launches in December for Apple TV, iPad, and iPhone.

Summary

The four main competitors for access to streaming content on your living room TV — Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Google Chromecast — are constantly one-upping each other with smaller, faster, cheaper devices that have cleaner, smoother interfaces, and provide better tools to help you discover and keep track of TV shows and movies.

If Apple’s TV app delivers to viewers in December what it delivered in the demo last week — even without Netflix and Amazon Prime — it’s a bona fide game-changer.

Until the next bona fide game-changer.

Scott Porch writes about the streaming-media industry for Decider and is also a contributing writer forPlayboy and Signature. You can follow him on Twitter @ScottPorch.